“The son of Adam, the son of God”

Read Luke 3:23-38

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Only Luke tells us how old Jesus was when he began his ministry (23). Thirty years was considered to be the age of maturity (Num.4:47). Legally, Jesus was seen as the son of Joseph, but Luke adds “as was supposed” to make clear that he was not the actual father.

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Genealogies seem irrelevant to us but Luke wouldn’t have included it if it didn’t matter. Likewise, in Matthew (Mt.1:1-17). The two are very different, probably because Luke shows the physical genealogy of Joseph while Matthew records the line of succession to the throne. Both are representative lists, skipping numerous generations. Matthew emphasises Jesus’s Jewish ancestry ("the son of David, the son of Abraham” 1:1) but Luke traces Jesus’s descent back to Adam, to show that this is significant for all mankind, not just the Jews.

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So Jesus was truly a man, a son of Adam. But he was more than that, for Adam himself was “a son of God”, created in God’s image (Gen.1:26-27) i.e. Jesus is what Adam once was – man as God meant man to be, and therefore uniquely able to save humankind. This is why Luke puts the genealogy here, following the announcement “You are my Son” (3:22), and setting the scene for his temptation.